Monica M. Ringer
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781474478731
- eISBN:
- 9781474491211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474478731.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The taxonomy of human religions, generated and confirmed as the guiding organizational grammar of European disciplines of religious studies, philology, and anthropology, claimed to map civilizational ...
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The taxonomy of human religions, generated and confirmed as the guiding organizational grammar of European disciplines of religious studies, philology, and anthropology, claimed to map civilizational evolution. Muslim Modernists, in addition to locating Islam in this universal taxonomy, also explored Islam in history, rewriting Islamic history as the story of transcendent Islamic essence in a sequence of particular historical contexts. They determined the historical laws of progress that dictated the path of the ‘torch of civilization’ in order to provide a historical explanation for moments of progress, and to understand the reasons for present stagnation. These new Islamic Histories chart the interaction of Islam in historical context, beginning with the revelation of the Quran, the Prophet’s application of Quranic ideals – God’s intent – and the subsequent history of Islamic institutions in historical context, from the Rashidun through the Abbasid period. Islamic History demonstrated both the enduring relevance of Islam as essence, but also the need to re-contextualize it in the present. In making these arguments, Modernists were in dialogue not only with European Orientalist scholars, but also with their own Islamic historical tradition.Less
The taxonomy of human religions, generated and confirmed as the guiding organizational grammar of European disciplines of religious studies, philology, and anthropology, claimed to map civilizational evolution. Muslim Modernists, in addition to locating Islam in this universal taxonomy, also explored Islam in history, rewriting Islamic history as the story of transcendent Islamic essence in a sequence of particular historical contexts. They determined the historical laws of progress that dictated the path of the ‘torch of civilization’ in order to provide a historical explanation for moments of progress, and to understand the reasons for present stagnation. These new Islamic Histories chart the interaction of Islam in historical context, beginning with the revelation of the Quran, the Prophet’s application of Quranic ideals – God’s intent – and the subsequent history of Islamic institutions in historical context, from the Rashidun through the Abbasid period. Islamic History demonstrated both the enduring relevance of Islam as essence, but also the need to re-contextualize it in the present. In making these arguments, Modernists were in dialogue not only with European Orientalist scholars, but also with their own Islamic historical tradition.
Timothy Power
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789774165443
- eISBN:
- 9781617971372
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774165443.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines the commerce and communications of the Early Islamic Red Sea, discussing the ports and hinterlands of the north (Palestine, Egypt & the Hijaz), the Sudan (Wadi al-‘Allaqi, ...
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This chapter examines the commerce and communications of the Early Islamic Red Sea, discussing the ports and hinterlands of the north (Palestine, Egypt & the Hijaz), the Sudan (Wadi al-‘Allaqi, al-Shunqayr, Wadi Baraka), and the south (Yemen & Ethiopia). It discusses the continued expansion of slaving and mining, whilst examining the rise of new trades and industries, including textiles, aromatics and the ‘India trade.’Less
This chapter examines the commerce and communications of the Early Islamic Red Sea, discussing the ports and hinterlands of the north (Palestine, Egypt & the Hijaz), the Sudan (Wadi al-‘Allaqi, al-Shunqayr, Wadi Baraka), and the south (Yemen & Ethiopia). It discusses the continued expansion of slaving and mining, whilst examining the rise of new trades and industries, including textiles, aromatics and the ‘India trade.’
Robert T. Montgomery and Megan Perry
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780813041506
- eISBN:
- 9780813043876
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813041506.003.0005
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Interpersonal violence is viewed through a case study of six individuals from a seventh-to-eighth-century Early Period Islamic site in Jordan called Qasr Hallabat. The focus of this chapter by Robert ...
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Interpersonal violence is viewed through a case study of six individuals from a seventh-to-eighth-century Early Period Islamic site in Jordan called Qasr Hallabat. The focus of this chapter by Robert T. Montgomery and Megan Perry is to provide insight into the social interactions between groups living in the region at this time. Early Period Islamic Jordan at this time was in a state of upheaval as there was a shift in political power from one ruling group (Umayyad) to another (Abbasids); the climatic conditions were becoming increasingly arid; and there was a major earthquake that was significant enough to destroy some of the buildings in Qasr Hallabt. Historical accounts have described this as a period of relative peace; however, through the analysis of patterns of trauma and pathology as indicators of the socio-political relations, Montgomery and Perry provide a more accurate understanding how people actually reacted in these uncertain times.Less
Interpersonal violence is viewed through a case study of six individuals from a seventh-to-eighth-century Early Period Islamic site in Jordan called Qasr Hallabat. The focus of this chapter by Robert T. Montgomery and Megan Perry is to provide insight into the social interactions between groups living in the region at this time. Early Period Islamic Jordan at this time was in a state of upheaval as there was a shift in political power from one ruling group (Umayyad) to another (Abbasids); the climatic conditions were becoming increasingly arid; and there was a major earthquake that was significant enough to destroy some of the buildings in Qasr Hallabt. Historical accounts have described this as a period of relative peace; however, through the analysis of patterns of trauma and pathology as indicators of the socio-political relations, Montgomery and Perry provide a more accurate understanding how people actually reacted in these uncertain times.
Sarah Eltantawi
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520293779
- eISBN:
- 9780520967144
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520293779.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
In November, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Northern Nigerians took to the streets of Zamfara state to demand the (re)implementation of full shar’iah penal law. Insisting on the laws of God where the ...
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In November, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Northern Nigerians took to the streets of Zamfara state to demand the (re)implementation of full shar’iah penal law. Insisting on the laws of God where the laws of man had failed, Nigerians believed shari’ah would stem massive corruption and deepening poverty in their society. Two years after shar’iah, a peasant woman from Katsina state, Amina Lawal, was sentenced to death by stoning for committing the crime of zinā, or illegal sexual activity, raising world wide concern about her fate and that of Nigeria. This book critically examines this western reaction, and asks how a revolution for total restructuring of society to bring justice and poverty alleviation most immediately affected a peasant woman accused of sexual crimes. Through the lens of Lawal’s case and its dramatic outcome, Eltantawi examines original Nigerian archival material, her ethnographic fieldwork in Northern Nigeria, premodern and modern Nigerian history, histories of Hausaland’s colonial encounter, the early legalization of stoning in Islam, Islamic legal theory, and contemporary debates around gender and geopolitics to piece together the histories that gave rise to latest Islamic revolution in Northern Nigeria -- the failure of which empowered terrorist group Boko Haram.Less
In November, 1999, hundreds of thousands of Northern Nigerians took to the streets of Zamfara state to demand the (re)implementation of full shar’iah penal law. Insisting on the laws of God where the laws of man had failed, Nigerians believed shari’ah would stem massive corruption and deepening poverty in their society. Two years after shar’iah, a peasant woman from Katsina state, Amina Lawal, was sentenced to death by stoning for committing the crime of zinā, or illegal sexual activity, raising world wide concern about her fate and that of Nigeria. This book critically examines this western reaction, and asks how a revolution for total restructuring of society to bring justice and poverty alleviation most immediately affected a peasant woman accused of sexual crimes. Through the lens of Lawal’s case and its dramatic outcome, Eltantawi examines original Nigerian archival material, her ethnographic fieldwork in Northern Nigeria, premodern and modern Nigerian history, histories of Hausaland’s colonial encounter, the early legalization of stoning in Islam, Islamic legal theory, and contemporary debates around gender and geopolitics to piece together the histories that gave rise to latest Islamic revolution in Northern Nigeria -- the failure of which empowered terrorist group Boko Haram.
Timothy Power
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789774165443
- eISBN:
- 9781617971372
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774165443.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines the development of Red Sea ports and hinterlands prior to the fragmentation of the caliphate in the ninth century. The emergence and interaction of local regions such as the ...
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This chapter examines the development of Red Sea ports and hinterlands prior to the fragmentation of the caliphate in the ninth century. The emergence and interaction of local regions such as the Sinai, Hijaz, Yemen and Sudan are considered in turn. Particular attention is given to the economic development of the Red Sea in this period, exploring the mineral exploitation of the Arabian-Nubian shield and the Arab trade in African slaves, which together drove continued Arab conquest and consolidation of the Bejaland.Less
This chapter examines the development of Red Sea ports and hinterlands prior to the fragmentation of the caliphate in the ninth century. The emergence and interaction of local regions such as the Sinai, Hijaz, Yemen and Sudan are considered in turn. Particular attention is given to the economic development of the Red Sea in this period, exploring the mineral exploitation of the Arabian-Nubian shield and the Arab trade in African slaves, which together drove continued Arab conquest and consolidation of the Bejaland.
Lajos Berkes
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266779
- eISBN:
- 9780191916069
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266779.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
The abundant papyrological evidence surviving from late antique Egypt (4–8th c.) includes thousands of documents in Greek and Coptic on village life. These sources shed light on aspects of rural ...
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The abundant papyrological evidence surviving from late antique Egypt (4–8th c.) includes thousands of documents in Greek and Coptic on village life. These sources shed light on aspects of rural realities barely known from other areas of the ancient Mediterranean. Village administration and government are especially well documented. Late antique villages in Egypt were organised in a fiscal community (koinon) which was collectively liable for the payments of the taxes incumbent on the village and the cultivation of their land. This institution was governed by a body of officials consisting of members of the village elite. This chapter discusses the relationship of the fiscal village community, administration and elite in Byzantine and early Islamic Egypt.Less
The abundant papyrological evidence surviving from late antique Egypt (4–8th c.) includes thousands of documents in Greek and Coptic on village life. These sources shed light on aspects of rural realities barely known from other areas of the ancient Mediterranean. Village administration and government are especially well documented. Late antique villages in Egypt were organised in a fiscal community (koinon) which was collectively liable for the payments of the taxes incumbent on the village and the cultivation of their land. This institution was governed by a body of officials consisting of members of the village elite. This chapter discusses the relationship of the fiscal village community, administration and elite in Byzantine and early Islamic Egypt.
Gideon Avni
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199684335
- eISBN:
- 9780191765001
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199684335.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
The Byzantine–Islamic transition and the spread of Islam in the Near East has been widely debated in the past thirty years. The traditional approach, claiming a swift Arab conquest which triggered a ...
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The Byzantine–Islamic transition and the spread of Islam in the Near East has been widely debated in the past thirty years. The traditional approach, claiming a swift Arab conquest which triggered a rapid transition from Christianity to Islam, was challenged from various directions. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of archaeological findings from hundreds of excavated sites, this book addresses the transformation of local societies in Palestine and Jordan between the sixth and eleventh centuries. Its main argument is that archaeological findings provide a reliable though complex picture, indicating that the Byzantine–Islamic transition was evidently a much slower and gradual process than previously concluded. It involved regional variability, diverse settlement patterns, and different types of populations; it varied in the large cities, the medium-sized towns, the agricultural hinterlands, and the nomadic fringe settlements; local societies struggled to keep their old traditions and beliefs, while the newly introduced Muslim population gradually penetrated into the region. The book takes the reader from the remote corners of the Negev desert to the heart of the settled lands and the urban centres of Palestine and Jordan. The discussion evaluates the process of change in a dynamic multicultural society, showing that the coming of Islam had no direct effect on settlement patterns and the material culture of the local population. The gradual change in settlement culminated during the Early Islamic period, and collapse occurred as late as the eleventh century. The process of Islamization was even slower, and Christianity prevailed under Islamic rule as late as the eleventh century. The archaeological findings provide a firm basis for a reconsideration of current historical paradigms, and promote a rethinking of the impact of political, cultural, and religious change on the local populations of the Near East between the sixth and eleventh centuries.Less
The Byzantine–Islamic transition and the spread of Islam in the Near East has been widely debated in the past thirty years. The traditional approach, claiming a swift Arab conquest which triggered a rapid transition from Christianity to Islam, was challenged from various directions. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of archaeological findings from hundreds of excavated sites, this book addresses the transformation of local societies in Palestine and Jordan between the sixth and eleventh centuries. Its main argument is that archaeological findings provide a reliable though complex picture, indicating that the Byzantine–Islamic transition was evidently a much slower and gradual process than previously concluded. It involved regional variability, diverse settlement patterns, and different types of populations; it varied in the large cities, the medium-sized towns, the agricultural hinterlands, and the nomadic fringe settlements; local societies struggled to keep their old traditions and beliefs, while the newly introduced Muslim population gradually penetrated into the region. The book takes the reader from the remote corners of the Negev desert to the heart of the settled lands and the urban centres of Palestine and Jordan. The discussion evaluates the process of change in a dynamic multicultural society, showing that the coming of Islam had no direct effect on settlement patterns and the material culture of the local population. The gradual change in settlement culminated during the Early Islamic period, and collapse occurred as late as the eleventh century. The process of Islamization was even slower, and Christianity prevailed under Islamic rule as late as the eleventh century. The archaeological findings provide a firm basis for a reconsideration of current historical paradigms, and promote a rethinking of the impact of political, cultural, and religious change on the local populations of the Near East between the sixth and eleventh centuries.
